When Beto O’Rourke was on the city council, he represented a large barrio. But, he voted multiple times to advance a development project, that would satisfy his father-in-law. And the people in his district were evicted from their homes to make way for the project.
And because their homes were in a bad neighborhood, they didn’t bring a whole lot of money and certainly, not enough to buy a home in a better neighborhood. Many of them say that O’Rourke betrayed them. Even though it was clearly a conflict of interest, O’Rourke continued to defend his vote that benefited his family.
While O’Rourke was an El Paso city councilman in the mid-2000s, he voted to approve the redevelopment of an El Paso barrio into a retail destination with shops and restaurants. The project would use eminent domain to take hundreds of homes away from many of low-income El Pasoans and the proposal angered many constituents, reported The New York Times.
The redevelopment project was proposed by billionaire real estate investor William Sanders in 2006 — O’Rourke married Sanders’ daughter Amy only a year prior in 2005.
Despite the conflict of interest and wishes of the barrio residents, whose area he represented in city council, O’Rourke voted multiple times to advance the redevelopment project. O’Rourke would continue to defend his decision for years and was consequently viewed as “siding with the moneyed elite against angry barrio residents, small business owners and even the Jesuit priests who ministered to the immigrant community at Sacred Heart Church,” according to NYT.
Beto is running on a platform of not favoring special interests. Imagine. A Democrat engaging in rabid hypocrisy. Who would have thunk it?